Grant Norwood, a 2000 and 2001 Murray State University alumnus of Paris, Tenn., was selected as the 2007 Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year for Tennessee . He was selected by judges from the University of Tennessee Extension Service.

As the Tennessee state winner, Norwood will receive a $2,500 cash award and an expense paid trip to the Sunbelt Expo from Swisher International of Jacksonville, Fla., a jacket and a $200 gift certificate from the Williamson Dickie Co., a commemorative fireproof home safe from Misty Morn Safe Co. and a $500 gift certificate from Southern States. If selected as the overall winner, he will receive a $14,000 prize and the use of a Massey Ferguson North America tractor for one year.

Norwood grows food grade white corn, yellow corn, soybeans, wheat and edible soybeans on his 2,540 acre farm in Paris . In his 13 years of farming, row crops have always been his focal point.

Norwood, who received his bachelor’s degree in agribusiness and master’s degree in agricultural science, has worked most of his life on his family farm. As a student at MSU, he was a member of the Agriculture Engineering Technology and Mechanization Club.